He’s the same guy who busted up Washington’s last-chance pass in the Arrowhead Stadium end zone Sunday and preserved the Chiefs’ 28-21 win. The same one who broke up the Raiders’ fourth-down, potential game-winner last month in Oakland.

Yet all safety Sammy Knight could talk about afterward on Sunday was his good fortune to be in the right place at the right time.

“Hopefully,” he said, “I can just keep being there.”

Knight is the NFL’s leader over the last eight seasons in takeaways, which are interceptions plus fumble recoveries. At some point, being in the right place at the right time is more than good fortune.

“I can’t think of another safety that I’ve been around that had those kind of ball instincts,” Chiefs veteran cornerback Dewayne Washington said. “He really sees the big picture well. He understands the things they’re trying to do, and nine times out of 10 he’s going to be right. He’s always back there yelling, ‘Watch this, watch that. This is what they’re going to do.’ He’s always been around the ball. This is nothing new for him.”

That’s why the Chiefs signed Knight as a free agent this year. They had a mere 21 takeaways last season.

“He’s very, very smart and totally aware of what’s going on,” Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil said. “You don’t surprise him or fool him. The other thing is, if you watch him closely, he’s directing traffic a lot. He’s making sure that the young rookie linebacker (Derrick Johnson) is getting lined up right and knows who he’s covering. He’s doing a lot of things other than playing his own position very well.”

“We brought him here to add that kind of leadership and stability to our secondary.”